Leadership lessons from Michael Phelps
Last year Michael Phelps amazed the world at the Olympics. Multiple world records and more gold medals than anyone had ever earned at a single Olympics. Shortly thereafter, he shocked the world again when he was seen smoking marijuana. This year at the world championships he once again returned to winning race form.
So what’s with the pendulum swings in lifestyle? It can be summed up in one word: goals.
For years, Phelps’ life was driven by his Olympic goals. Everything he did, every decision he made, was based on whether it helped or hindered him in achieving those goals. And it paid off; his success at the Olympics was greater than anyone had ever seen. But there was a problem: once he achieved his goals he didn’t have anything to guide his decisions and actions. It was easy for him to fall into bad behavior because he didn’t have anything positive that he was working toward. When he decided he wanted to continue to compete he had goals again and his decisions began reflecting them.
Do you have goals that you are working toward? Something more than “survive the day without breaking anything else!”? It’s really easy to make unproductive–or even harmful–decisions when you aren’t consciously building toward something… preferably a God-sized goal that you know will require his help!
